Ruth 2:1-3 - Let me go to the fields

2:1

Ruth and Naomi are now back in Bethlehem and they have to settle back into life there. We are told at the outset that Naomi had “a relative on her husband’s side” called Boaz. He was “a man of standing”.It will become apparent that he had reasonable wealth, and he also had a good reputation. In those days families were meant to care for each other. So we are introduced to Boaz.

2:2,3

Ruth knows that they need food, so she suggests that she should go out into the fields and take the gleanings. It was the barley harvest (1:22), and under the Law some of the crop was to be left for the poor to collect. Ruth was proactive, but wanted Naomi’s permission, which was granted. Ruth went off and worked in the field belonging to Boaz. This is presented as chance, and it was in the sense that Ruth had no idea whose field it was, but it was also God’s providence.

Acts 22:23-30 - Are you a Roman citizen?

22:23,24

The Roman commander was desperate to avoid a riot, which would definitely have been a black mark against him. He then directed that Paul be flogged. This was a common practice amongst the Romans, and was aimed to get the truth out of the victim. The commander wanted to know why the presence and words of Paul were causing such a commotion. 

22:25-29

As they were just about to begin the flogging (which would have been of a particularly severe kind), Paul told them that he was a Roman citizen. Under Roman law floggings were limited to non-Roman citizens. This immediately changed the whole situation, for the commander would not want to be found to have flogged a Roman citizen. He was surprised to find that Paul was a Roman citizen, especially that Paul was born a Roman. Roman citizenship was something to be greatly prized. The flogging was immediately called off.

22:30

The commander still wanted to know why there was such a commotion over Paul. He knew it was the Sanhedrin, the Jewish leaders, who were the root of the problem. So he arranged to have Paul and  the Sanhedrin and chief priests to meet together so he could get to the bottom of the matter. This would take place in a controlled environment, so as to avoid any riots!

Ruth 1:18-22 - Call me Mara

1:18,19

Naomi realised that there was no changing of Ruth’s mind. So she stopped trying to change Ruth’s mind, and the two of them went on to Bethlehem. When they arrived there the whole town became aware of Naomi’s return. We aren’t told what their reaction to her leaving had been. Was there any reproach for Elimelek deserting the place? If so, it would be Elimelek, more than Naomi, who would be the object of reproach.

1:20-22

Naomi means “pleasant”, but Naomi told them to call her Mara, which means “bitter”. Naomi felt that God had dealt with her harshly, and saw the loss of her husband and two sons as God’s direct action against her. She saw the loss as misfortune brought upon her by the Lord. Today we would quickly react against such an attitude, but maybe there is something in Naomi’s approach. She knew that everything was ultimately in God’s hands. There are times when this seems a very hard thing to think, but the upside is that it also means that God can change the circumstances. If He “inflicted” them, He can reverse them.

By the way, we needn’t think that Naomi actually changed her name, but was simply expressing what she felt about the way her life had gone.

So Naomi had returned from Moab with her Moabite daughter-in-law. The time of the barley harvest was a few weeks before the wheat harvest. The significance of this is that it meant there would be work for Ruth to do in the fields.

Acts 22:19-22 - I will send you to the Gentiles

22:19-21

Paul wasn’t too keen to leave Jerusalem, thinking that his record of persecuting Christians would somehow stand him in good stead. He also states that when Stephen was martyred he stood there giving approval. But God had other plans, namely to send Paul to the Gentiles with the good news. There may be times when changes are coming about in our lives that we do not like, even seem to be upsetting good work that we are doing. But it may be that God has even greater plans. Note, however, that God often communicated with Paul, informing him of what he was doing, and why.

22:22

I don’t know if Paul expected his speech to have an emollient effect on the crowd or not, but if he did he was to be greatly disappointed. Instead the crowd just wanted to get rid of Paul, possibly killing him. They knew that Paul truly understood Judaism, and deeply steeped in it. Yet despite all this he had deliberately chosen (as they saw it) to reject their religion and was a keen advocate of an alternative religion. He was a threat to them, as they saw it. Of course, the gospel is the fulfilment of the Law and the Prophets, and it was their religious leaders who were unfaithful to the Law and the Prophets. But that was not how it seemed to them.

Ruth 1:14-17 - Your God will be my God

1:14,15

The two daughter-in-laws are distraught, having now been faced with the full reality of the situation. Up until this point they had perhaps been consoling themselves that somehow they could carry on as they were, but now it was made abundantly clear to them that this was not the case. They reacted in very different ways. Orpah decided to go back to her own people. Sometimes she is criticised for this, but we should note that the Bible makes no adverse comment about her decision. Naomi certainly does not seek to condemn her, indeed she urges Ruth to do the same.

1:16,17

Ruth, however, refuses to follow her mother-in-law’s urgings. Instead she declares “Where you go I will go, where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God”. She makes as full a commitment as possible to Naomi. Why did she do this? Surely she must have seen something good in Naomi. And bear in mind that Naomi had been going through a very difficult time, losing her husband and her two sons. Yet Ruth saw something in Naomi that made her willing to change her whole direction of life. This is how God’s people are meant to operate, leading/attracting people to Christ through the examples of their lives. This was how God’s nation Israel was meant to live, being a beacon of light to the other nations. We know that she failed miserably as a nation, but not all of them failed.

Acts 22:12-18 - Get up, be baptised

22:12-16

In particular, Paul received help from Ananias, and he stresses that Ananias was “a devout observer of the Law and highly respected by all the Jews living there”. Ananias told Paul to receive his sight, and he did. Ananias then prophesied to Paul that he was God’s witness to all peoples . He was to get up, be baptised, have his sins washed away, and to call on the name of the Lord.

22:17,18

Paul returned to Jerusalem. He has truncated the account here, missing out the bit about being lowered from the walls of Damascus, among other things. Paul was praying in the temple and fell into a trance. The Lord told him to leave Jerusalem immediately “because the people here will not accept your testimony about me”. This is consistent with Jesus’ teaching about shaking off the dust from our feet if a village will not listen. There is a time to persist, for remember that God sent Paul a vision in Corinth telling him to stay there. And there is a time to move on.

Ruth 1:6-13 - Go back, each of you

1:6-10

Some time later Naomi learnt that “the Lord had come to the aid of His people”. So the famine was over. Note that it is seen as a direct action of the Lord. Naomi prepared to return home, and to take her two daughters-in-law with her. They then set out on the road back to Judah. Part way along the road Naomi seems to have had second thoughts about bringing her two daughters-in-law back with her. It seems that she had a good relationship with them, but urges them to go to their own country, and to do so with her blessing. She wanted them to find husbands there. However, the two women state that they will continue to go back with Naomi.

1:11-13

Naomi, however, urges them to go back. She outlines the stark reality of the situation. It was unlikely that any of the Israelite men would want to take Moabite women as wives (though I’m not sure that this would be the case), and there was no way that Naomi could produce sons for them to marry! She sees them as still having the possibility of a good life, while life has turned bitter for Naomi. She thinks that God has turned His hand against her, and the circumstances would support this view. But we know that that was not the case. We need to be careful about judging things by circumstances.